Summer Engagement Photo Session at the Beach

While we’re regularly focusing on wedding details and getting inspiration for linens and flowers and dresses, one of the hardest aspects of being engaged is brainstorming for engagement photos.

Engagement photos are so important and yet they’re some of the most intimate moments you’ll spend with your partner during your bridal experience. Without all the hoopla of the wedding day to distract you, it’s easy to feel vulnerable when it’s just you, your betrothed, and a camera which is hopefully handled by a skilled photographer you like and whose photographs you admire.

You’ll put a lot of thought into your engagement photos: the location, the wardrobe, the style. Your trusted photographer should be able to guide you, but looking at other couples’ images may help spark some good vibes for your sesh.

I love Nicole and Pete’s portfolio of pics by New York’s Origin Photos. It’s a perfect mix of playful and romantic, of close-ups and far-aways; of casual and more buttoned up. I like that the couple had just two outfit changes (more than three tends to dilute your options for later use) and sparkled in both posed shots and more lifestyle-like shots. It’s quite clear that these two are deeply in love because it bounces off the lens!

If you’re at all on the fence about doing an engagement photo session — DO IT. It’s a great way to spend some quality time with your photographer, learn about how you like to be photographed or get comfortable being photographed, practice all the on-camera kissing you’ll be doing on the big day, and have a deck of photos to be able to share or incorporate in wedding-related… propaganda! (guestbooks, save the dates, thank you notes, and more).